Boot, etc.



Sept 19, 1933. J; L K 1,927,420-

BOOT ETC Filed Nov; 5; 1950 Patented SephIQ, 1933 v ouireo era-res rarest nation f; Una.

This invention relates to boots and puttees, or other foot wear having a body or upper extending well above the calf and'close to the knee of the wearer. v

Foot wear of this kind as made heretofore was arranged 'so that the loot could be inserted through the open upper end, and this required the body. to be considerably over-size at various portions to enable the foot to enter and he turned into the bottom portion of the boot. This resulted in such articles being more or less clumsy in appearance, while their use was an endeavor on the partcf the wearer, aside from the-strictly h utilitarian purpose, to appear trim and chic. This is particularly true of "Russian boots and riding hoots.

. An object of the present invention is to provide a fitted boot, that is to say, a boot-which M actually fits the leg of the wearer, being properly shaped to neatly encase' the calf and gradually tapering to snugly fit the ankle, so that no more room is left within the boot than is necessary for the comiort of the wearer. M This is accomplished by the present invention win its preferred form, by cutting the leather, or other material of which the boot is made, to the pattern of the leg of the wearer, leaving the hack of the hoot open from top to bottom, and by proing fastening device, the latter extending down close enough to the heel to permit the wearer's root to he slid into the foot-receiving portion of the hoot. v

A further feature of this invention is the provision of a fly extending for the length of the interlocking device and adapted to conceal it from View, this fly being held in place by snap fasteners or the like.

The present invention also embraces the provision of the arrangement above described for puttees or leg protectors, which are not provided with a shoe portion. And, in this case, the article may he unslit at its upper end and open Fig. 2 is a rear elevation with the hoot partially closed.

t is a rear elevation with the boot corn= viding for closing this opening hyan interlock at its lower end, for with the open back the pletely closed and a concealing flap secured in l e is a blank ofthe upper and heel portion of the boot.

Fig. 5 is a rear viewof the lower portion of the boot, showing thebootnompletely open.

Finfi is a transverse sectional View taken on the line 6--6 of Fig. 1. f

i is a perspective view of a puttee made in accordance with the present invention.

The boot shown in the accompanying drawing as exemplary of the present invention, has a sole 10, a heel 11, a combined vamp and upper 12, which is made of one piece of leather and a legencircling part 13 sewed to the member 12, and at the rear having a heel portion. l i.

In accordance with the present invention, the leg-encircling part 13 is fitted to the leg of the wearer, having its upper end 15 snugly fitting the leg just above the calf, the portion 16 below this enlarged to fit the calf, and from this portion 16 the hotly tapers down fitting the leg of the wearer to the nanowoankle portion 17.

- The leg-encircling part 13 is formed from a blank 13a, shown in Fig. 4, which is cut to fit the leg of the wearer when the edges 18 are brought together, so as to fit snugly the leg of the wearer without discomfort. Ihe blank is suitably reenforced or stifiened to maintain its shape. Clearly, with such a fitted boot, and with the edges it of the leg-encircling part 13 sewed, or otherwise permanently secured together, it would be impossible to insert the foot into the part 12 of the boot.

In boots of this general type as previously made, the portions 15 and 17 of the leg-enciroling part 13 had to he made over size so that the foot could he inserted and turned to enter the part 12 of the boot. ffnis over-sizeengle and upper portion, while being a necessary evil, did not enhance the appearance of the article, and in fact, the wrinkles which would result from such over-sized portions detracted from the appearance of the wearer instead of enhancing it.

To permit such a fitted hoot toils made, the leg- A encircling part 13 of the boot is, according to the presentinvention, not permanently secured together, and instead of a back seem, an interlock ing separable fastener is employed.

Accordingly, as shown in the accompanying drawing, the edges 18 of theblank 130 are not sewed together, but are sewed to the companion parts of a separable interlocking fastener 19 which are caused to move into interlocking arrangement by a sliding actuator 20 when the latter is drawn 1 upwardly, and'to cause the edges 18 to he sephoot.

arable when slid downwardly to form a slit or opening 20a through which the foot or the wearer may be introduced to the part 12 of the boot.

The separable fasteners 19 may extend as far down toward the heel 11 as is required to open the boot suiliciently to permit the introduction of the foot of the wearer to the portion 12 ot the It may actually extend down to a point 21 very close to the heel 11, as shown, if desired; or it may terminate at the point 22 at the upper end 0! the heel portion 14, so long asthe particular foot for which the article is designed can be inserted into the part 12 with convenience, and without .making any portion of the boot over-size to suit this convenience.

If desired, the separable fasteners 19 at the rear of the boot may be concealed by a flap 23 formed integral with the part 13, or of a separate piece, and in such cases the flap 23 may be secured to the opposite side of the slit 20a by snap fastener elements 2425.-

To avoid chafing of the wearers heel and the back of his ankle, a flexible tongue 26a (Fig. 5)

a may be secured within the heel portion 14 so as 25' to extend over the parts of the foot or ankle which might be chafed by direct engagement with the separable fasteners 19. v

The present invention also embraces the pro- 0 vision or such arrangements for puttees and is .3 I

not in all its aspects limited to a boot. A puttee constructed in accordance with the present invention is illustrated in Fig. '7, and'in this case it is preferable that the upper portion 15a be made complete, that is, unslit, and constitute the terminal position of the operating member 20 of the separable fastener elements 19.

In this case, the ankle portion 17' is reduced in size to fit the ankle of the wearer, and to .apply the puttee, the operating member 20 of the separable fastener is slid upwardly to form a slit 20:: open atthe bottom 26. The size of the opening of the upper portion 15a is suflicient to permit the shoe-clad foot of the wearer to be inserted therethrough, and for convenience, the

' Lea-7,420

toot might be inserted with the toe directed toward the slit 200 after which the puttee, before being closed by the separable fastener, may be rotated on the leg of the wearer to proper position, with the slit and separable fasteners at the rear of the leg.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of this invention and portions of the improvements may be used Without others.

- Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and for which it is-desired to obtain Letters Patent, is:-

1. An article of foot wear comprising a footreceiving part; a leg-encircling part connected thereto fully open up the back for substantially its entire length, said leg-encircling portion made of two plies of leather, an intermediate ply of resilient rubber between the two plies of leather of the leg-encircling part and extending slightly beyond the ends of the leather where it forms the opening up the back, and separable fastening means for closing the open portion of the leg-encircling part, located on the outer ends of the resilient rubber and free of the ends of the leather to make the leg-encircling part formfitting and to compensate for slight changes in the leg of a user.

2. A half boot of leather having a foot-portion; a leg portion shaped to substantially fit the ankle and the calf of the wearer, said leg portion having a vertical slit at the'back completely parting the leg portion at the top and extending from the top thereof to at least as far down as the top of the counter on the foot portion to permit the insertion of the foot and leg of the wearer into the boot by a substantially horizontal motion; and a slide operated separable fasten- .ing device .secured to the margins of the leg calf and foot without opening said slit. 

